Patriarch: Pope to meet Iraqi Shiite leader Sistani in Iraq
28/1/2021 19:59
Iraq's top Catholic official said Thursday that a deadly suicide bombing in Baghdad hasn't thwarted Pope Francis' plans to visit, and he confirmed the pontiff would meet with the country's top Shiite cleric, Ali al-Sistani, in a significant highlight of the first-ever papal trip to Iraq.
The Chaldean patriarch, Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako, provided the first details of Francis' March 5-8 itinerary during a virtual press conference hosted by the French bishops' conference. The Vatican has confirmed the visit, but it still could be called off given the coronavirus pandemic.
The trip is aimed primarily at encouraging the country's beleaguered Christians, who faced decades of discrimination by the Muslim majority before being targeted relentlessly by Islamic State militants starting in 2014.
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